Context-aware auxiliary display platform and applications

ABSTRACT

Described is a mechanism by which application programs (or plug-ins) and an auxiliary service adjust the output and/or data available for output on an auxiliary device based on changes detected in the current context of the auxiliary display. Context sensors detect and report changes in context, whereby some action is taken with respect to what information is displayed or can be displayed on the auxiliary display device. Examples of context data that can change include the physical location of the display, detected movement or motion data, presence of a particular user or others, power state, network connectivity status, privacy status and so forth. The auxiliary device can have context as to its position relative to the main display. Information sensitivity levels may be used to specify whether an application program&#39;s data can be displayed, based on the perceived sensitivity of the information and the user&#39;s current context.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to computer systems, and moreparticularly to an improved method and system for display of informationon a computing device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 10/429,930 and 10/429,932 aregenerally directed towards the concept of computer systems havingauxiliary processing and auxiliary mechanisms, particularlydisplay-related mechanisms, which provide some auxiliary computingfunctionality. For example, a small LCD on the lid or side of a laptopcomputer can provide its owner with useful information, such as ameeting location and time, even when the main computer display is noteasily visible, such as when a laptop computer's lid is closed and/orthe main computer is powered down.

However, the usage of such auxiliary displays has heretofore beenlimited to narrow, limited operations in which a dedicated auxiliarydisplay program is customized for the type of display and with respectto the information that is displayed. In such systems, the auxiliarydisplay program is coded to the specifics of the type of display, suchas the size and resolution, so that the program can output somethingthat is readable yet fits within the screen area. This is unlike theregular computer system display, in which contemporary operating systemcomponents abstract from higher level programs the complexity anddetails of whatever specific video graphics adapter is installed. At thesame time, dedicated auxiliary display code was a sensible solution,given that auxiliary displays typically have been two-or-three line textdisplays built into the hardware when manufactured, and all that wasneeded was to have the dedicated application write simple text withinformation such as a meeting time and the current time to the display.

One problem with the dedicated solution is that what is desirable todisplay in one context might not be desirable in others. For example,although notification of an upcoming meeting is desirable, once in themeeting, it would typically not be desirable to have other attendees beable to view other information that might appear on the auxiliarydisplay. A simple on/off switch is not sufficient for many scenarios,such as when the display of some information, but not other (e.g.,personal) information, is what a user really wants.

What is needed is a way for application programs that run under the mainoperating system of a computer system to automatically present on anauxiliary device only the data that is desirable for displaying giventhe current context.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the present invention provides a mechanism by which applicationprograms (or their plug-ins for handling auxiliary devicescommunications) and an auxiliary service work together to adjust forchanges detected in the current context of the auxiliary display. One ormore context sensors may detect the change in context, and report it tothe main computer system and/or the auxiliary device, whereby someaction is taken, such as with respect to what information is displayedor can be displayed on the auxiliary display device. Other types ofactions resulting from context-related events flowing through theauxiliary devices system are able to cause permanent or temporarychanges to the main (host) computer system.

In an offline state in which a main computer system is not running butan auxiliary device is running, the change in context can have someeffect on cached application program and other data, such as tointerpret or use the cached data differently based on the currentcontext state, or to possibly add to or delete from the cached data. Theapplication can register (or query) for the particular context-sensitivebehavior before the system goes offline. The auxiliary device can thussend context-sensitive events as they are detected or some appropriatetime after detection, or can maintain context-related data forresponding to a query. The auxiliary device can also obtain thecontext-related data on-demand, such as in response to an applicationprogram query, and/or can occasionally poll one or more sensors asappropriate. The auxiliary device can also re-send context-relatedevents, such as for the benefit of applications that were not runningand/or registered at the time the event was last sent.

When in an online state in which both the main computer system and theauxiliary device are operating, context changes may be communicated tothe online application programs and/or the operating system components.Such context based-events are used by the application programs,operating system and/or auxiliary device as each sees fit; as a result,the context changes can temporarily or permanently change the maincomputer system and/or auxiliary device, e.g., by changing a registry orother setting. Note that changes reported to the main computer system'sprograms may have occurred at a time when the main computer system wasoffline, and if so are preserved by the auxiliary device and reportedwhen the main computer system comes back online.

Application and other programs (such as operating system components)that have registered for use of the auxiliary display may also registerfor particular context-change notifications, such as contextcorresponding to a physical location of the display, movement or motiondata, presence of a particular user or others, power state, networkconnectivity status, privacy status and so forth. Plug-ins can registeras to whether they are to be available in the offline or online powerstates, or both.

The auxiliary device can also have a registered context associatedtherewith with respect to where the auxiliary device is located relativeto the main display, that is, able to be seen when the main screen isvisible or not, or independent of the main screen.

When developing an auxiliary display plug-in, the developer may specifyan appropriate context or contexts in which the application may bedisplayed, should be displayed (e.g., automatically upon a contextchange), or cannot be displayed. This is then known for the offlinestate, where applications are not running to adjust the output. In theonline state, the auxiliary service may communicate any change incontext event to the plug-in, which may adjust its future outputaccordingly. In one implementation, when a context state change occurs,the auxiliary service enumerates the list of enabled plug-ins todetermine if any plug-ins should be added or removed based on thatcontext change. When running in the offline state, the firmware oroperating system running on the auxiliary processor can apply the samecontext filter to disable plug-ins that are no longer relevant in theoffline power state. Alternatively, a different filter can be applied.

Information sensitivity levels may be used by the plug-ins to specifywhether the plug-in's data can be displayed, based on the perceivedsensitivity of the information and the user's current context. Thecontext may be selected by the user based on a current situation andpassed to the auxiliary service or firmware. A heuristic determines whatlevel of information should be shown, based on the user selected contextand other pertinent information.

Other advantages will become apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing a general purpose computingdevice in the form of a personal computer system into which the presentinvention may be incorporated;

FIGS. 2A-2E are exemplary illustrations each generally representing alocation for placement of an auxiliary display on various devices;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram generally representing a layered architectureby which application programs can exchange data in an abstracted mannerwith an arbitrary auxiliary display device, in accordance with an aspectof the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a representation of how in one implementation, anauxiliary-aware application program interfaces with an auxiliary displayservice to exchange data with an auxiliary display device, in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram generally representing multiple applicationprograms each capable of selectively coupling for data exchange with anauxiliary display device based on mediation, in accordance with anaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram generally representing components of thelayered architecture including firmware by which offline and onlineoperation of an auxiliary display device is possible, in accordance withan aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a representation of an auxiliary display service in oneimplementation being able to operate with different types of displaydevices, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram generally representing components includingfirmware by which offline and online operation of an auxiliary displaydevice is possible, in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary Operating Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing a computing device 120 in theform of a personal computer system into which the present invention maybe incorporated. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that thepersonal computer system 120 depicted in FIG. 1 is intended to be merelyillustrative and that the present invention may be practiced with othercomputer system configurations, including hand-held devices,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, headlessservers and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

The personal computer system 120 included a processing unit 121, asystem memory 122, and a system bus 123 that couples various systemcomponents including the system memory to the processing unit 121. Thesystem bus 123 may be any of several types of bus structures including amemory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory includesread-only memory (ROM) 124 and random access memory (RAM) 125. A basicinput/output system 126 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that helpto transfer information between elements within the personal computer120, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 124. The personalcomputer 120 may further include a hard disk drive 127 for reading fromand writing to a hard disk, not shown, a magnetic disk drive 128 forreading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 129, and an opticaldisk drive 130 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk131 such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. The hard disk drive 127,magnetic disk drive 128, and optical disk drive 130 are connected to thesystem bus 123 by a hard disk drive interface 132, a magnetic disk driveinterface 133, and an optical drive interface 134, respectively. Thedrives and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatilestorage of computer readable instructions, data structures, programmodules and other data for the personal computer 120. Although theexemplary computer system described herein employs a hard disk, aremovable magnetic disk 129 and a removable optical disk 131, it shouldbe appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computerreadable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer,such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks,Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories(ROMs) and the like may also be used in the exemplary computer system.

A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, magneticdisk 129, optical disk 131, ROM 124 or RAM 125, including an operatingsystem 135 (such as Windows® XP), one or more application programs 136(such as Microsoft® Outlook), other program modules 137 and program data138. A user may enter commands and information into the personalcomputer 120 through input devices such as a keyboard 140 and pointingdevice 142. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone,joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner or the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 121 through aserial port interface 146 that is coupled to the system bus, but may beconnected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port oruniversal serial bus (USB). A monitor 147 or other type of displaydevice is also connected to the system bus 123 via an interface, such asa video adapter 148. In addition to the monitor 147, personal computerstypically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such asspeakers and printers. An auxiliary display 200 is an additional outputdevice, and may, for example, be connected to the system bus 123 via anauxiliary display interface 155. An auxiliary display 200 may alsoconnect to a computing device 120 through a serial interface or by otherinterfaces, such as a parallel port, game port, infrared or wirelessconnection, universal serial bus (USB) or other peripheral deviceconnection. An input device 201 in FIG. 1 may provide one or moreactuators to interface with and/or control the auxiliary display 200,and for example may be connected to the system bus 123 via input deviceinterface 156, which may be a serial interface, or by other interfaces,such as a parallel port, game port, infrared or wireless connection,universal serial bus (USB) or other peripheral device connection.

The personal computer 120 may operate in a networked environment usinglogical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remotecomputer 149. The remote computer 149 may be another personal computer,a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common networknode, and typically includes many or all of the elements described aboverelative to the personal computer 120, although only a memory storagedevice 150 has been illustrated in FIG. 1. The logical connectionsdepicted in FIG. 1 include a local area network (LAN) 151 and a widearea network (WAN) 152. Such networking environments are commonplace inoffices, enterprise-wide computer networks, Intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the personal computer 120 isconnected to the local network 151 through a network interface oradapter 153. When used in a WAN networking environment, the personalcomputer 120 typically includes a modem 154 or other means forestablishing communications over the wide area network 152, such as theInternet. The modem 154, which may be internal or external, is connectedto the system bus 123 via the serial port interface 146. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the personal computer120, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storagedevice. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexemplary and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers may be used.

It should be noted that the computer system need not be fullyoperational for an auxiliary display to work in accordance with thepresent invention. Indeed, as described below with reference to FIG. 6,an auxiliary display may still work when the computer is powered down,at least to a default extent or to an extent configured by a user, suchas when the computer system is in a sleep state or a hibernate mode,and/or when the user has not yet logged on or is otherwise locked out ofthe system via security mechanisms. For example, the user may want atelephone handset and speakerphone that are integrated into a personalcomputer to work as conventional appliances when the computer system ispowered down, and use the auxiliary display as a caller-ID device. Thisdevice may also store data for later transmission to the computer systemwhen the computer system is again powered up, such as to log the callsreceived, including when the computer system was not fully powered up.

The auxiliary display may supplement the main display and may also serveas a surrogate display when the main display is shut down or otherwisenot operational (e.g., disconnected), to give the user some information.For example, information such as how to power up the main display mightbe helpful, as would a room number and/or directions to a meeting on anauxiliary display device connected to a mobile computer that the usercan view when the main display is off and/or not easily visible (e.g.,the lid of a laptop is closed). Note that even on a tablet PC with acontinually visible screen, the main display may be shut down to savepower, whereby an auxiliary display may provide substantial benefits.Note that the user may limit the extent of the display based on thecomputer system state, e.g., when the user is not logged in, onlycertain non-sensitive or very specifically-controlled information may bedisplayed, and so forth.

To enable and control communication in these powered-down modes,firmware may exist, stored in non-volatile memory, that when loaded andoperated on by a secondary processor, enables the auxiliary display,along with other auxiliary components to be used, as long as some poweris available. Note that as used herein, the term “firmware” can begenerally considered as representing the auxiliary memory, the codetherein and/or the secondary processor on which it runs.

FIGS. 2A-2E illustrate exemplary locations on or associated withcomputing devices for placement of auxiliary display screens 200_(a)-200 _(e), respectively. As represented in FIGS. 2A and 2B, anauxiliary display screen 200 _(a) may be placed on the front, back orother surface of a standalone (landline or mobile) phone 202, (whichneed not be physically coupled if otherwise linked such as via Bluetoothtechnology) and/or another auxiliary display screen 200 _(b) placed onthe edge or lid of a mobile computer 204 or tablet computing device (notshown). Another place for an auxiliary display screen 200 _(c) (FIG. 2C)may be on a phone mounted on a computer or a peripheral device attachedto a computer such as on monitor 206 or on a keyboard (not shown). FIGS.2D and 2E illustrate additional placements of auxiliary display screens200 _(d) and 200 _(e) on the front panel of a standalone console 208connected to a computer, or some other housing 210 (such as a housingfor the motherboard), respectively. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that an auxiliary display screen may be placed on any surfaceof any computing device or other device having display capabilities,such as placed on a watch with a wireless or other connection to acomputer, on a remote control device, on a remote wall-mounted unit, andso forth.

As should be apparent from FIGS. 2A-2E, an auxiliary display may be inthe form of any number of known types of displays such as one or moreLEDs, a 2-line alphanumeric display, a monochrome display, or a colordisplay. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the presentinvention may also use the display of other computing or communicationdevices as the auxiliary display 200. These other computing orcommunication devices include general purpose computers, cell phones,and handheld devices such as a pager or a personal digital assistant(PDA). Additionally, the present invention may use a virtual auxiliarydisplay implemented within an area of the onscreen display of thecomputing device 120 (e.g. a screensaver or a component of the graphicaluser interface) as the auxiliary display 200, including before a userhas logged in. The auxiliary display 200 may include a combination ofany of the forms described above, and also be physically or logicallycombined with indicators such as one or more LEDs and/or used inconjunction with a virtual auxiliary display.

Even absent a screen, one or more LEDs may be advantageously used as theauxiliary display 200 for notification about the occurrence of anactivity. Such an auxiliary display may be implemented with low costsand less power consumption and provide notification in an unobtrusivemanner. It may be effective used for systems with extremely tight formfactors or for systems where communications for users are managed byanother person. An auxiliary display 200 may additionally be effectivewhen notifications need to be seen from a distance. An auxiliary displayalso may be used in conjunction with an onscreen virtual auxiliarydisplay when there is informational content associated with theactivity, such as notification of a new email message. In this case,content from the email may also be displayed on the virtual auxiliarydisplay 200. Furthermore, an auxiliary display 200 may be effectivelyused for public systems (libraries or kiosks) or shared computers whendisplay of content is undesirable.

Alternatively, a 2-line alphanumeric display may be advantageously usedas the auxiliary display 200 where cost or space is critical, butnotifications and basic content are desired. It may be effectively usedfor tablet PCs, laptops, budget PCs, phone docking stations, monitorbezels, and small or low-cost PC appliances or peripherals such as ahandset, keyboard, or remote control. It may also be effectively used asa replacement for (and an improvement to) a caller ID box.

Furthermore, a monochrome or color multi-line display may beadvantageously used as the auxiliary display 200 for media-richapplications, high-end consumer systems or media center systems. It maybe effectively used for high-end laptops with more generous form factorsor where an emphasis is placed on communication, full-function PCs witha heavy business or communications emphasis, media centers or high-endmedia appliances (including remotes, console systems with portable mediafunctionality) and mobile auxiliary displays. Additionally, the displayof another computing or communication device may advantageously be usedas the auxiliary display 200 where users can expand the role of thesesupplemental devices when using their PC. These other computing orcommunication devices include general purpose computers, cell phones,and handheld devices such as a pager or a personal digital assistant(PDA). Further, note that the auxiliary display need not be an actualdisplay, but can be a projection (e.g., onto a wall) of the information.An auxiliary display, as referred to herein, may be composed ofessentially anything that can be sensed, including any visual, audible,and/or tactile representations.

As mentioned previously, a virtual auxiliary display may be used as theauxiliary display 200 for public systems (libraries or kiosks) or sharedcomputers when display of content is undesirable. It may also beeffectively used for low-cost systems or for devices with very minimalform factors that make even LEDs impractical. A virtual auxiliarydisplay may be implemented as a screensaver or as a component of thegraphical user interface.

The input device 201, hereinafter referred to as actuators (in plural,even if only a single mechanism such as a button or pointing device),provides the user with a mechanism to switch between differentcategories of application data or notifications such as emailnotifications, voicemail notifications, calendar notifications, systemstatus notifications, caller ID lists and other types of notificationmessages. Accompanying such a switch button may also be an up button anda down button to allow the user to scroll forward and backward throughthe notification messages within a particular category. Those skilled inthe art will appreciate that any other types of actuators may be used,such as a keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad or other deviceincluding a device that contains a biometric sensor, environmentalsensor, position sensor, or other type of sensor. Any of the inputdevices of the computing device 120 that is represented in FIG. 1 may beused as the input device (actuators) 201, and may be used in conjunctionwith independent actuators.

Auxiliary Display System Architecture

As will be understood, the present invention provides an auxiliarydisplay 200 for a user to simply and rapidly view information concerningperipheral tasks without distraction or the need to switch operatingfocus from the current task onscreen, if any. In keeping with thepresent invention, the user may select, to an extent, what informationappears on the auxiliary display by using actuators 201 to select amongapplication program data. Although program data and event notificationswill be used to illustrate the auxiliary display of information, itshould be understood that the present invention may provide auxiliarydisplay of other types of information such as from Internet-relatedservices including transaction services, auction services, advertisingservices, entertainment services, and location services. Such servicescan provide a wide variety of information including financialtransaction information, headline news, stock quotes, sport scores,weather and other information, including information specificallyrequested by the user as well as unsolicited information. It will alsobe appreciated that the auxiliary display 201 may be operative using anynumber of known types of displays such as a set of notification lights,a 2-line alphanumeric display, a monochrome display, or a color display.Note that as used herein, for simplicity “auxiliary display device” willgenerally refer to the auxiliary display screen and/or the actuatorsassociated with that screen as well as any other hardware, firmware orsoftware in the device, however it should be understood that the screenand actuators may be independent mechanisms, and/or that there may notbe actuators requiring physical contact to input data. Further, notethat the auxiliary display device may be considered as possiblycontaining indicators (e.g., individual LEDs) instead of or in additionto a pixel-type display screen.

As generally represented in FIG. 3, there is provided an architecture300 by which one or more application programs 302 can interface withvirtually any type of auxiliary display device 304, to output data toits display 200 and/or interact with the user via actuators 201. Such anapplication program 302 (or via an associated plug-in component coupledto the application program) is one that has been programmed to know ofauxiliary displays (that is, are auxiliary-display-aware), and thus canuse an auxiliary display device 304 whenever one is present to exchangeinformation with a user and thereby provide an improved user experience.Note that as used herein, the concept of an “application” or“application program” represents conventional programs as well asoperating system components that may want to provide data to anauxiliary display and/or have interpretation occur therewith through anauxiliary display device's associated actuators.

To allow any auxiliary-display-aware application program 302 to use anauxiliary display device 304, an auxiliary display service 306 isinstalled on a computer system, providing an application model/layerthrough which application layer programs running on the normal computeroperating system can communicate with the auxiliary device 304 todisplay information on its display 200 and/or receive commands such asnavigation commands via actuators 201. To this end, the applicationprogram 302 exchanges data, via defined interfaces 304, with anauxiliary display service 306 (of a service layer). In turn, asdescribed below, the auxiliary display service 306 exchanges the datawith the auxiliary display device 304. As a result of thishighly-flexible model, any program, including those not yet developed,can thus use the auxiliary display device 304 by properly implementingthe defined interface set 308.

Further, in one implementation the auxiliary display service 306abstracts the auxiliary display device hardware (as well as any devicefirmware or software) from the other layers, whereby any suitable devicecan serve as an auxiliary display device, including devices not yetdeveloped. To this end, the architecture 300 provides a protocol layer,by which the service 306 communicates with the device firmware/hardwareover a suitable communication protocol/interfaces and wired or wirelessdevice interface 310. Any existing or future protocol that the displayservice 306 and auxiliary display device 304 both appropriatelyimplement will suffice, as will any corresponding physical or wirelesscomputer-to-device interface 310 (including those not yet developed).

As described below, in one implementation, the mediation component 312(e.g., that handles enumeration and arbitration) is abstracted from thecommunication mechanisms via a defined interface 314 into which aprotocol proxy 316 plugs in, as appropriate for the communicationsprotocol being used. Note that the protocol proxy is shown in FIG. 3 asbeing part of the auxiliary device service 306, however what isconsidered part of the service is somewhat arbitrary, and thus theprotocol proxy can be alternatively considered as part of the protocollayer. In any event, the layered architecture provides high flexibilityto application developers and display device manufacturers.

Turning to FIG. 4 and an explanation of the application and servicelayer operations, an application program 302 may be extended as desiredto present some of its data to users via an auxiliary display device304. This may be accomplished by developing the application program 302to directly understand the auxiliary display service interfaces 308,and/or by associating with the application program 302 a component thatunderstands the interfaces 308. For example, a plug-in (e.g., in theform of a DLL) allows application developers to easily extend theirapplication programs without changing the main application code (exceptto link to the plug-in). Note that FIG. 4 depicts the auxiliaryapplication component 402 as being within the application program 302,however it is understood that this is only a representation and thus thecomponent 402 may be within the application code itself or be apluggable component such as a DLL plugged into the application. Further,it should be understood that the application program itself may not beproviding its data for display. For example, another program that may beindependent of the application program may present data corresponding tothe application program; to this end, for example, by hooking theapplication program's function calls, the other program can provide datato the auxiliary display device 304 that appears to be coming from theapplication program.

As represented in FIG. 4, the application-to-service layer provided bythe auxiliary display service 306 enables various structure andfunctionality, including auxiliary plug-in registration by which anapplication/plug-in registers itself with a service registrationcomponent 404 of the auxiliary display service 306, whereby theapplication/plug-in has the ability to use the available auxiliarydevice 304. In the example implementation of FIG. 4, the serviceregistration component 404 provides an IAuxAppReg interface for thispurpose. Other application programs likewise register themselves viathis interface.

The auxiliary application component 402 has ability to receive eventsfrom the associated auxiliary display device and/or related resources.For example, an event may be sent to the auxiliary application component402 upon an auxiliary device becoming available for sending datathereto, while another event could correspond to user interaction withthe auxiliary device actuators. In the example implementation of FIG. 4,the application program implements an IAuxAppSink interface to receivesuch events.

As also described above, the application program 302 has the ability toenumerate the available auxiliary hardware device or devices that areavailable. In the example implementation of FIG. 4, a mediator component406 in the auxiliary device service 306 provides the enumeration via anIAuxMediator interface. In this manner, the device or some data relatedto the device (e.g., a corresponding XML file) can report thecapabilities of the device display screen or the like and/or itsactuators to the application program 302. The application program 302may then adjust the output and input according to the display, e.g.,color scheme, resolution, navigation commands, and so forth can bemodified for the device characteristics. For example, if an applicationprogram 302 knows that the auxiliary display device has ahigh-resolution color screen and four-way navigation buttons, thatapplication can output richly formatted data to the auxiliary displayand adjust to accept navigation commands in four directions.Alternatively if only a two-line text display is available, theapplication program 302 can output simple text.

Arbitration is also provided in the mediation component 406 of theapplication layer, to provide the mechanism that determines whichapplication should be having its data currently displayed and receivingnavigation commands. Note that the application programs take turnssharing the display as appropriate; in other words, the arbitrationfunction of mediation manages the priority (z-order) of the auxiliaryapplication programs and/or plug-ins. Because auxiliary devices may haveonly small amount of display space, (or even be as little as a singleLED), in one implementation only one application gets the entire displayat a time, although it is feasible in alternative implementations tosplit a display and/or indicators among applications at the same time ifsufficient screen space is available or a screen and indicators areavailable on the same device, or otherwise provide information from twoor more applications (e.g., the device could show one application's databut flash when another application is in a changed state, essentiallyrequesting but not demanding that the user pay some attention).

Arbitration is also provided in the mediation component of the servicelayer to provide a mechanism that determines which application oroperating system component should be having its data currentlydisplayed; note that the application and other programs take turnssharing the display as appropriate. Often the program currently coupledto (similar to having focus on) the display device was user-selected,such as by navigating to from a home page, however other events may takeprecedence over the user's selection (which may have been made longago). For example, if an event occurs such as a meeting reminder, aphone call, a return to home page timeout, a low power condition, orsomething that is considered likely more important to display than whatis currently being displayed, the auxiliary display can change, eitherentirely to show another application's data or a shell application homepage, or in some way (e.g., flash) to indicate the event.

Note that it is possible to have more than one auxiliary display, andalso one or more indicators such as LEDs, whereby arbitration determinesthe data mapping between application programs and the like to and fromeach such display and/or indicator.

Once a program is allowed to write to the display and receive commandsvia its actuators, auxiliary system referencing provides the ability toblit/render to an abstracted memory buffer that allows the currentlyselected auxiliary application (e.g., plug-in) component 402 to use thedisplay resources. In the example implementation of FIG. 4, a devicecomponent provides an IAuxDevice interface for the application programto provide its data to the device via the service layer. Note thatapplication data may be processed before passing through the servicelayer, e.g., to structure the data in some manner such as a tree orgraph to faciliate rendering as well as caching, as described in theaforementioned U.S. patent application entitled “Caching Data forOffline Display and Navigation of Auxiliary Information.”

By way of summary, the arrows labeled with circled numerals one (1)through six (6) correspond to the generalized timeline of an auxiliaryapplication's boot-strapping and execution. As represented by arrow one(1), the auxiliary device service begins. At arrow two, as part of itsinitialization process the service creates out-of-process applicationCOM objects. The out-of-process COM objects support the IAuxAppSinkinterface.

As represented by arrow three (3), the auxiliary application component(e.g., an object) calls into the IAuxAppReg interface of the serviceregistration component (e.g., an object method) of the auxiliary deviceservice 306 to subscribe to one or more auxiliary devices. Eachavailable device may be listed by a specific identity returned from thecall, or can simply be identified as being available, in which eventenumeration can determine the characteristics of each device.

As represented by arrow four (4), following registration, theregistration service 404 essentially identifies the mediator component(e.g., an object) to the auxiliary application component 402, byreturning an IAuxMediator object interface from the registrationcomponent. The service's mediator component (object) keeps a copy of theIAuxAppSink interface so that the mediator 406 can request that theapplication component 402 respond to an actuator event draw on a displayor set the state of an indicator.

Numbered arrow (5) in FIG. 4 represents the mediator component 406passing an IAuxDevice interface to the auxiliary application viaIAuxAppSink. The application in turn uses that interface to actualizethe request via the device component.

FIG. 5 shows multiple application programs 302 _(A)-302 _(C) connectedto a mediator component (object) 406. Although three such applicationprograms 302 _(A)-302 _(C) are shown, it is understood that anypractical number is feasible. In general, the mediator component 406determines which application program should be currently having its datadisplayed on the auxiliary display 200 (and/or on a set of one or moreindicators 500), and/or should be receiving user input data from theactuators 201. If more than one auxiliary display device is present, themediator component (object) 406 maps the applications to the devices; atany one time, different auxiliary devices may each display viaindicators or a display screen the data of a different applicationprogram, or any one application may have its data displayed on more thanone auxiliary device at a time. Note that the same application thus mayoutput data to two or more displays, however the application's data maybe different for each auxiliary device. For purposes of simplicity, thefollowing explanation will refer to a single auxiliary display devicethat outputs to a display (rather than to an indicator set).

In FIG. 5, an actuator object referred to as an interaction manager 501manages the user interactions with the actuators 201 corresponding tothe auxiliary display. This interaction may include the user input ofnavigational commands that tell the mediator component (object) 406 tochange which of the applications is to have its data displayed. Thecommand may also be one directed to the currentlyauxiliary-display-active application program, e.g., to display some ofits data such as the body of a selected email message. Alternatively, anevent 520 such as a timed event may be received and processed by themediator component 406 to make such a change automatically in responseto the event. A lookup table or the like maintained by the mediatorcomponent can map events (or internal timers) to actions.

It should be noted that the interaction managers need not rely entirelyon the application programs to change the display. For example, a “homepage” program that lists available application programs from which auser can select may be built into the interaction manager and/or thedisplay object 408. Until an application is selected, the home pageprogram adjusts the display (e.g., highlights and/or scrolls a list ofavailable applications) in response to user interaction with theactuators 201 until the user selects one of the applications.

In one implementation, upon detection of such an application selectionor other change request (e.g., event based), the mediator component 406sends an event to the newly selected or currently selected applicationto instruct that application to provide appropriate data to the displayobject 408 for display. If changing from one application program toanother such as because of a timed event, or changing back to the homepage, the mediator component 406 may also send an event to the formerlyactive application to indicate that it no longer is having its datadisplayed. Note that with multiple displays and/or indicators, themediator component can remap applications to display objects whenchanges occur, and thus a mechanism for indicating which display,displays and/or indicators that an application is outputting data to maybe needed to inform the application of how to tailor its data foranother device.

The display object for any auxiliary display device can ensure that datais appropriate for its corresponding display, e.g., text to an LED wouldbe meaningless (unless that text corresponded to a particular displaystate such as a color and/or flash pattern). Further, the display objectcan reformat data as appropriate, e.g., color to grayscale, text to abitmap for display, and so forth.

The actuators 201 can also change the state of a currently selectedapplication program that is having its data displayed. For example, whenselected, an email application program can display a list of emailmessages, which can be scrolled by the application program in responseto received actuations at appropriate buttons. Upon selection of anemail message, the application may change its state to output thecontents of the selected message rather than a list of messages.

Beneath the application-related layer is a protocol layer accomplishedvia a communications-related interface into which a protocol proxy(e.g., a DLL) plugs in. Because of the protocol layer, the communicationdetails and requirements are abstracted from the application programsand the mediation component.

Moreover, the protocol is not fixed, but rather is configurable via apluggable protocol proxy. Thus, essentially any protocol may be used asagreed upon with an auxiliary device, including protocols not yetdeveloped. Note that the plugging in of the proxy may be automatic orlargely automatic in response to the initial detection of the presenceof a coupled auxiliary display. For example, a user can couple a smartmobile telephone to a computer, and when the coupling is detected, thedisplay of the mobile telephone can become an auxiliary display byautomatically loading an appropriate protocol proxy.

Because of the layered architecture, both the application programs andthe auxiliary display device in essence see only an auxiliary deviceservice, which has the respective interfaces needed to properly exchangedata. In this manner, communication from any application to anyauxiliary display device is possible for which an agreed-upon protocolexists, (e.g., to connect over a USB HID, Bluetooth, and so on, andeven, for example, to connect to a web service located essentiallyanywhere in the world).

Turning to FIG. 6, the protocol (sometimes referred to as a hardwareabstraction) layer of the auxiliary device service 306 is theabstraction that enables the application plug-ins to be routed to one ormore of a variety of devices. In one implementation, the physical meansof output can vary from as little as a single LED to a full color bitmapauxiliary display, or virtually anything in between (e.g., analphanumeric display, an auxiliary display with custom segmenting,2^(n)-bit small grayscale bitmap displays, 32-bit larger bitmap displaysand so on). The input capabilities also vary, e.g., the actuators canvary from buttons, to switches to capacitive or other sensors includinglight sensors, motion sensors, mass sensors and so on.

As shown in FIG. 6, in one implementation the protocol proxy comprises aDLL that enables the application content to be directed to a physicaldevice. IDevice and IProtocol interfaces of the proxy are exposed tocore code of the auxiliary device service 306, which receives callbackevents from the proxies. In the example of FIG. 6, examples 616 and 617are shown for a Universal Serial Bus/Human Interface Device(USB/HID)-based auxiliary display and a WinSock based endpoint,respectively. Note that it is possible to have multiple auxiliarydisplays having different communication protocols active at the sametime. The auxiliary device service maintains data 650 (e.g., anXML-formatted device configuration list) of the protocol proxy providersand their respective capabilities.

Note that to this point, the computing environment has been describedwith applications actively running on the main computer in conjunctionwith the operating system running (ACPI state S0), referred to herein asan “online” state. However, in alternative scenarios, the auxiliarydisplay can have its own CPU and memory, and this firmware can operatethe auxiliary device when the main computer is “offline,” e.g., thecomputer is powered down to some extent, e.g., completely powered downor in a sleep/hibernation state, or the like (S1 or higher ACPI sleepstate). If such firmware is present, the auxiliary device can displaydata while the device is online or offline. If not present, theauxiliary device is only capable of working in an online state. In theonline-capable only state, the applications and various componentsdescribed above run on the main CPU under the operating system.

FIG. 7 generally represents the relationship between applications 302_(A) and 302 _(B) (in this example having respective auxiliary plug-ins402 _(A) and 402 _(B)) and the interaction managers when in either oneof these two scenarios, namely online capable only or online/offlinecapable. When online only, the online interaction manager 501 ₁ (runningin the main CPU operating system) receives user input and via theauxiliary display service 306, may pass corresponding data to thecurrently selected application program and/or a display controller 730 ₁for processing. Note that this is essentially as described above withrespect to FIG. 5. Further, note that even though a device may beoffline-capable, these online components may be run whenever the mainsystem is online, because the processing power and memory are usuallygreater in the online state, and because the applications are runningwith actual data instead of cached data.

When offline, a different offline interaction manager 501 ₂ is used. Asis understood, the offline interaction manager 501 ₂ runs under theauxiliary microcontroller/and offline (e.g., flash or alternativelypowered) storage. In general, the offline interaction manager 501 ₂manipulates cached data in response to navigational commands from theactuators 201. An offline shell program, which may be considered part ofthe offline interaction manager 501 ₂ (although it may be a separatecomponent), may provide a home page and includes navigational logic thatdetermines what image (e.g., a bitmap) to display, or what contentshould be interpreted for rendering to the display, such as by arenderer in the shell. Note that the same actuators and auxiliarydisplay may be used on an online/offline capable device, regardless ofwhether online or offline, although there may be some differences inwhat can be displayed due to limitations of the auxiliary processorand/or memory. For example, the resolution of the image may differ ifcached bitmaps are used for the offline scenario and space is limited.Note however that there may be advantages to formatting the data sent tothe display device in a common navigational (e.g., tree or graph)structure for online and offline, including that the user gets a similarexperience and that the various components need not be configured toprocess different structures depending on the online or offline state.However, the actual data that can be displayed may differ, e.g., if notall of the applications' data may be cached for offline viewing due tostorage space limitations, the amount of data to cache is reduced insize (e.g., a tree structure is pruned), as described in theaforementioned U.S. patent application entitled “Caching Data forOffline Display and Navigation of Auxiliary Information.”

Context-Aware Auxiliary Display Platform and Applications

FIG. 8 is a representation similar to that of FIG. 7 but adding theconcept of a context sensor. In FIG. 8, the context sensor or sensorsare shown as being separate sensors 840 and 842 for online or offlinecontext sensing, respectively, but as will be understood, the some orall of the sensors may be the same and shared between the states.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, in general, acontext sensor determines some context change, and reports it to themain computer system and/or the auxiliary device. The reported contextchange is then used to take some action with respect to what informationis displayed on the auxiliary display device, or take some other type ofaction.

In the offline state, the change in context can have some effect on thecached data, such as to interpret or use the cached data differentlybased on the current context state, or to possibly add to or delete fromthe cached data. By way of example, if a sensor detects the presence ofanother person along with the user of the system, any information in thecache that was previously identified by the user as sensitive can bepruned, and restored at another time. Thus, in a meeting, a user willnot inadvertently be showing his or her email messages to otherattendees that can see the auxiliary display. Similarly, if an auxiliarydisplay is mounted on the lid of a laptop computer, and that lid isopen, the user of the device cannot see the auxiliary display, butothers can, and thus any sensitive information ordinarily should not bedisplayed when the lid is open. In both of the above examples, thecurrent context is what determines the desired display output, and thussensing that context can control the display.

Note that context-awareness works with both online and offlineoperation, with a difference being that when online, context changes maybe communicated to online application programs or operating systemcomponents, whereas when offline, the context change will be used tomodify usage of the cached data and/or any other data obtained by theauxiliary firmware. Such other data which may be added to the cacheddata or merged therewith is described in the aforementioned U.S. patentapplication entitled “Processing Information Received at an AuxiliaryComputing Device.” Also, the sensors may be different or at least differin number from online to offline, e.g., some sensors may report to theoperating system, and for a portable auxiliary device, the sensorsattached to that device will go with the device while others attached tothe main computer system will remain with the main computer system.

When in an online state in which both the main computer system and theauxiliary device are operating, the context changes that arecommunicated to the online application programs and/or the operatingsystem components are used by the application programs and/or operatingsystem (and/or the auxiliary device itself) as each recipient of thecommunication sees fit; as a result, the context changes can temporarilyor permanently change the main computer system and/or auxiliary device,e.g., by changing a registry or other setting. Note that changesreported to the main computer system's programs may have occurred at atime when the main computer system was offline, and if so are preservedby the auxiliary device and reported when the main computer system comesback online. In the online case, various context data can be reported toapplications that have registered for use of the auxiliary display.Various types of context may be sensed, such as context corresponding tophysical location of the display or main computer system, movement ormotion data, presence of a particular user or others, power state,network connectivity status, privacy status and so forth.

The auxiliary-devices-aware applications alternatively may be referredto as plug-ins, even though the auxiliary code may not actually be aplug-in but rather part of the main application program code, asdescribed above. The application can register (or query) for theparticular context-sensitive behavior before the system goes offline.The auxiliary device can thus send context-sensitive events as they aredetected or some appropriate time after detection, or can maintaincontext-related data for responding to a query. The auxiliary device canalso obtain the context-related data on-demand, such as in response toan application program query, and/or can occasionally poll one or moresensors as appropriate. The auxiliary device can also re-sendcontext-related events, such as for the benefit of applications thatwere not running and/or registered at the time the event was last sent.

In keeping with the present invention, plug-ins can register to beavailable in more than one power state. For example, a calendar plug-inis appropriate when the system is online or offline, but live stockquotes received via the main computer system are not appropriate forcaching for offline use. Plug-ins can also register to be available inmore than one location. For example, a battery meter is appropriate whenthe auxiliary display is located on the bezel of a laptop computer or onits lid, or both.

When developing an auxiliary display plug-in, the developer may specifyan appropriate context (or contexts) in which the application may bedisplayed, (or should be displayed upon a context change), or cannot bedisplayed. The service may also communicate the change in context eventto the plug-in, which may adjust its future output accordingly. Aplug-in may register for changing the display upon a context change,e.g., automatically present a certain display when a Bluetooth device isin range. Moreover, if the Bluetooth device becomes available as anauxiliary display, each appropriately registered application plug-in maybe notified of the context change, so that, for example, the plug-in canadjust its output for the new device.

The auxiliary service 306, which is aware of the current system context,can chose which plug-ins it is appropriate to display data from andwhich to disable, based on the current context. To this end, in oneimplementation, when a context state change occurs, the auxiliaryservice enumerates the list of enabled plug-ins to determine if anyshould be added or removed based on that context change. When running inthe offline state, the firmware or operating system running on theauxiliary processor can apply the same context filter to disableplug-ins that are no longer relevant in the offline power state.Alternatively, a different filter can be applied.

Examples of various contexts include power state, which determines inwhat power states the plug-in's corresponding information will bedisplayed, whether the source of the information is the plug-in'scorresponding application program or cached data for that applicationprogram. The auxiliary service 306 is aware of changes to the powerstate of the system via the existing system notifications. Plug-in powerstate options include online (S0) in which the plug-in is appropriatewhen the system is online, and offline (S3-S5) in which the plug-in isappropriate when the system is offline. A plug-in can register to beavailable online and offline.

Another context is relative display location, and may be used todetermine whether the plug-in will display information based on thelocation of the auxiliary display in relation to the main computersystem's primary display. The manufacturer may register the position ofthe auxiliary display as part of the system configuration, or the usercan identify the location to the system, such as for a custom locationthat does not quite fit any defined category or if the user wants tooverride the registered position. Each plug-in can then register withthe auxiliary service 306 as to which locations it is appropriate to berun in. For example, plug-in location options include visible with theprimary display, e.g., the auxiliary display is in a location such thatit is visible at the same time as the primary display, such as on thebezel of a laptop. Another location is not visible with primary display,e.g., the auxiliary display is in a location such that it is not visibleat the same time as the primary display, such as if mounted on lid of alaptop, and thus only visible when the lid is closed or from the otherside of the main display. Another location that can be registered isremote display, indicating that the auxiliary display is eitherdetachable from the main PC or is on a separate device connected via aremote connection, (e.g., via Bluetooth to a mobile telephone). Aplug-in can register to be shown in any combination of the locationoptions.

Network connectivity is another context that can be detected, and can beused to determine if the plug-in will display information based on thecurrent network connectivity status. Plug-in network connectivityoptions include wireless connected, Ethernet connected, Bluetoothconnected and no network connection. A plug-in can register to be shownin any combination of the network connectivity options. The auxiliaryservice is aware of the current network status via existing API's. Inthe offline case, the firmware or operating system on the auxiliaryprocessor may have access to the network and can set the status for theplug-ins as appropriate.

A different type of context sensing is detecting the actual physicallocation of the device, such as work or home. For example, if a usercomes home from work and a different wireless networking is detected,that context change can be reported to the user's email applicationprogram which will then adjust to output email messages addressed to theuser's personal address on the auxiliary display, instead of emailmessages for the user's work email address. Global positioning system(GPS) data can also determine a location, as can sensing a user'scurrent location and velocity to predict a future location and therebyadjust output data accordingly.

Information sensitivity determines whether the plug-in will be displayedbased on the perceived sensitivity of the information and the user'scurrent context. The context may be selected by the user based on acurrent situation and passed to the auxiliary service or firmware/OS. Aheuristic determines which level of information should be shown based onthe user selected context and other pertinent information. For exampleif a second user uses Terminal Services to access the laptop at the sametime another user is logged in, it may be appropriate to not showprivate information on the auxiliary display. Another example is of theuser leaving his or her computer unattended, whereby it would bedesirable to prevent private information from being while unattended.

Plug-in information sensitivity options include system data, where theplug-in has no personal information at all (e.g. battery meter), anduser data, in which the plug-in contains data related to a user'spersonal preferences but it is not private data (e.g. weather forecastsby a zip code or user selected stock quotes). A more sensitive option ispersonal information, such as when the plug-in contains dataspecifically related to a user but not necessarily private, such as amusic playlist. Private information indicates that the plug-in containsinformation that should be considered private (e.g., calendar email). Inone implementation, a plug-in can only register for one of theseoptions. In alternative implementations, a finer granularity isfeasible, e.g., some of a plug-in's data is flagged at one sensitivitywhile other data is flagged as another, and the time for designating thesensitivity is not at the time of registration.

As can be appreciated, virtually any context that may be sensed can beused to alter the presentation of a program's data upon a contextchange. This can be based on rules that are provided by the program inadvance of the context change, or by notifying the program of thecontext change and letting the program adjust its output.

Moreover, the auxiliary device (e.g., through its actuators) is alsoable to change context. For example, a button pressed on the auxiliarydisplay device actuators may change the power state (e.g., turnon/off/standby/hibernate) the main system such as a laptop computer.Alternatively, the pressing of a button on the auxiliary display may beused to cause the main system connect to a wireless network.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the present invention enables variouscontext application programs (plug-ins) to provide data at appropriatetimes to an auxiliary display of a computer system, while at the sametime allowing virtually any capable display, whether built-in as adedicated auxiliary display or an independent device display, to serveas an auxiliary display. The present invention thus provides numerousbenefits and advantages needed in contemporary computing with auxiliarydisplay devices.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof areshown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that there is no intention to limit theinvention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary,the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions,and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. In a computing environment having a computer system, a systemcomprising: a portable personal computer that includes: a processingunit; a built-in display coupled to the processing unit to outputinformation to a user of the portable personal computer, the built-indisplay including a main display built into a first side of the built-indisplay and an auxiliary display built into a second side of thebuilt-in display, wherein the auxiliary display is secondary to the maindisplay and has limited display capabilities in at least size andresolution with respect to the main display, and such that the limiteddisplay capabilities of the auxiliary display limit display ofinformation on the auxiliary display to only a single application at anygiven time; a set of data elements specific to the user of the portablepersonal computer, the set of data elements each including one or morecontext properties defining in what contexts the data elements, whileremaining accessible to the user of the portable personal computer, arenot to provide information to the auxiliary display device, and whereinthe context properties include definitions prohibiting display of one ormore data elements of the set of data elements on the auxiliary display,but not the main display, when another person other than the user isdetermined to be near the portable personal computer; and a servicecoupled to a context sensor and that manages the output of informationon the auxiliary display based on the current context, wherein theservice is configured to: receive an indication that another personother than the user is near the portable personal computer; identify,using the one or more context properties, a first subset of the set ofdata elements specific to the user that includes one or more dataelements which are available for display of information an the maindisplay and the auxiliary display device for the current context, and asecond subset of the set of data elements specific to the user thatincludes one or more data elements which are available for display ofinformation on the main display device and which are not to displayinformation on the auxiliary display device for the current context; andcause the auxiliary display device to display only information from thedata elements specific to the user that are of the first subset of theset of data elements while the another person is detected to be near theportable personal computer, thereby abstaining from display informationfrom the second subset of the data elements.
 2. The system of claim 1further comprising a program that registers with the service to indicatewhether information corresponding to that program is to be displayedbased on the current context.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein thecontext sensor detects a presence of another person in addition to theuser, near the portable personal computer.
 4. The system of claim 1wherein a context sensor detects a change in status of the auxiliarydisplay relative to the main display of the portable personal computerand identifies the data elements of the first subset data elementsspecific to the user which may continue to be displayed on the auxiliarydevice based on the change in status of the auxiliary display devicerelative to the main display.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein receivingthe indication that another person other than the user is near theportable personal computer includes determining that the user is in ameeting.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein receiving the indication thatanother person other than the user is near the portable personalcomputer includes receiving actuation of a button on an actuator of theportable personal computer.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the servicemanages the output of information on the auxiliary display by modifyingdata in an offline cache in response to a context change.
 8. The systemof claim 1 wherein the service manages the output of information on theauxiliary display by notifying an application program in response to acontext change, the application adjusting what information from the dataelements specific to the user is output in response to the contextchange notification.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the portablepersonal computer includes an actuator, wherein the actuator isconfigured to permit the user to switch between data of differentapplications on the auxiliary device.
 10. In a user-specific portablepersonal computer that includes a main display device and an auxiliarydisplay device, a method for adapting information displayed on theauxiliary display device based on context changes, the methodcomprising: within the user-specific portable personal computer,detecting a presence of another person other than a user of theuser-specific portable personal computer at the user-specific portablepersonal computer, wherein the user-specific, portable personal computerincludes a processing unit and a built-in display that includes a maindisplay built into a first side of the built-in display and an auxiliarydisplay built into a second side of the built-in display, wherein theauxiliary display is secondary to the main display and has limiteddisplay capabilities in at least size and resolution with respect to themain display, and such that the limited display capabilities of theauxiliary display limit display of information on the auxiliary displaydevice to only a single application at any given time, and in responseto detecting the presence of another person other than the user-specificportable personal computer, performing the following: accessing a set ofdata elements specific to the user of the user-specific portablepersonal computer, each of the set of data elements including one ormore context properties defining in what contexts the data elementscontinue to provide information to the auxiliary display device fordisplay; by a service of the user-specific portable personal computer,and which is coupled to a context sensor used to detect the presence ofthe another person, using the one or more context properties, andidentifying a first subset of the set of data elements that includes oneor more data elements of the set of data elements which are to displayinformation on the auxiliary display device for the detected presence ofthe another person other than the user of the user-specific portablepersonal computer, and identifying a second subset of the set of dataelements including one or more data elements of the set of data elementswhich are not to display information on the auxiliary display device forthe detected presence of the another person other than the user of theuser-specific portable personal computer; and while detecting thepresence of the another person other than the user of the user-specificportable personal computer, and while the set of data elements remainaccessible to the user of the user-specific portable personal computer,displaying on the auxiliary display device only information from dataelements of the first subset of the set of data elements and preventingdisplay of information from data elements of the second subset of theset of data elements on the auxiliary display, thereby prohibitingdisplay of the second subset of the set of data elements on theauxiliary display, but not on the main display, and wherein display ofonly the data elements of the first subset of the set of data elementsis caused by the service of the user-specific portable personalcomputer.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein detecting a presence ofanother person other than the user of the user-specific portablepersonal computer comprises determining that the user of theuser-specific portable personal computer is in a meeting.
 12. The methodof claim 10 wherein detecting a presence of another person other thanthe user of the user-specific portable personal computer includesdetermining a current physical location of the user-specific portablepersonal computer having both the main display device and the auxiliarydisplay device.
 13. The method of claim 10 wherein detecting a presenceof another person other than the user of the user-specific portablepersonal computer comprises receiving data indicative of a presence ofthe another person in addition to the user near the auxiliary displaydevice.
 14. The method of claim 10 wherein detecting a presence ofanother person other than the user of the user-specific portablepersonal computer comprises detecting actuation of an actuatorassociated with the auxiliary display device.
 15. The method of claim 10wherein adjusting the output comprises modifying data in an offlinecache in response to a context change.
 16. The method of claim 10wherein adjusting the output comprises notifying an application programin response to detecting the presence of the another person other thanthe user, the application adjusting what information from the dataelements specific to the user is output in response to the notification.17. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions,which when executed perform the method of claim
 10. 18. The method ofclaim 10, wherein at any one time, the auxiliary display device isconfigured to permit display of only data elements of a singleapplication on the user-specific portable personal computer.
 19. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the main display device and the auxiliarydisplay device are in the same location and wherein while displayingonly information from the second subset of the set of data elements onthe auxiliary display, the second subset of the set of data elementsremains available for display to the user on the main display.